John “Hands of Stone” Lineker proved once again that his power transcends any rule set at ONE Fight Night 25 on Friday, October 4.
Just four weeks after his professional Muay Thai debut, the Brazilian slugger made it 2-0 in “the art of eight limbs” with a thunderous knockout over surging striker Alexey Balyko.
Balyko was a formidable foe who had raced to a 3-1 slate in ONE, but Lineker’s concussive punches were too much for the Russian as he scored a devastating KO at 2:14 of the opening frame.
As the former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion with a successful 16-year career in the all-around sport, Lineker won’t give up on what he’s built.
At the same time, he loves the freedom to throw his hands without having to think about grapplers trying to spoil his fun.
“Hands of Stone” told onefc.com:
“I want to focus on MMA, but I’m really happy with the opportunity to fight in Muay Thai.
“I’m really enjoying fighting in Muay Thai, especially because this is just striking so I don’t need to be very worried when they want to take me down and this kind of thing.”
With back-to-back victories in under a month, Lineker is looking to take a well-deserved break, but he also wants to resume his charge toward the throne in mixed martial arts.
After getting stopped by Fabricio Andrade in their clash for the bantamweight MMA belt last February, the 34-year-old notched back-to-back wins over Stephen Loman and Kim Jae Woong.
Other than his loss in a last-minute openweight MMA bout against lightweight Shinya Aoki, the longtime star has been in fine form and is eyeing another shot at the reigning ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion.
Lineker said:
“Right now, I’m thinking about getting some rest and, after that, maybe in March next year, I will come back to fight in MMA.
“I’d like to have a trilogy against Fabricio Andrade.”
Lineker Would Love To Face Muay Thai Megastars Rodtang, Superlek
While it’s clear that John Lineker has unfinished business in MMA, his consecutive KO wins have shaken up the Muay Thai world and sent the imaginations of fans running wild with potential matchups.
“Hands of Stone” has stirred the pot himself by calling out ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon, and when he does step back into “the art of eight limbs,” he believes that matchup would deliver fireworks:
“I’ve called Rodtang out already. So now I need to wait to see if the boss will make this happen. If the opportunity to fight him is the next one, let’s fight. Let’s go to war.
“I always go there for the knockout, to fight, to win, and with Rodtang it wouldn’t be different. I would go there to fight for the win.”
Just two fights into his new journey in Muay Thai, Lineker doesn’t want to get ahead of himself and greatly respects the stars of the sport.
However, as a former World Champion, he has high expectations of himself, and he wouldn’t turn down the chance to face newly minted ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Superlek Kiatmoo9.
The Brazilian added:
“There are many tough men [in this division]. One of them is Superlek. I don’t want to mention any other names, but there are many, many tough men there to fight.
“I’m a fighter. I would never run from a war. So, I’m building up my career in Muay Thai step by step, but for sure, I would fight him.”
